Hi thanks for the replies -I do have a solicitor acting for me. He thinks a better angle for us is to make a claim against the banks solicitors for not giving true indpendent advice etc for the signing. The MD set up another company late last year, I dont know his financial status or anything though. Why do you ask?

well, just an update for everyone - I offered 20% of the debt as full and final to the bank, after having given them my income expenditure details as requested, they have now applied for 'summary judgement' - how likely is it that this will happen in their favour? I have around £150 per month disposable income so thought the lump sumoffer would seem attractive to them - what will they gain if successful? I havent any assetts to speak of. Any info would be appreciated.

Hi Thank you for your comments, ref: 'is whether or not the solicitor actually advised to sign the PG or not to sign the PG' -The solicitor did not advise either way, he simply showed me where to sign the paperwork. I received no letters personally from the solicitors, any paperwork was sent straight to the company, but certainly nothing along the lines of your queries. I am in the process of looking into a claim against the solicitors via my current solicitor, he thinks I have a 'reasonably good' chance of success from all of the documentation (or more importantly / lack of documentation) that we have in our hands at the moment. All solicitor docs are addressed to the company / md. They all refer to a lease of the companies premises, the pg seems almost as though its a side issue.

hi all just a bit further on with the court case now, sent in my defence early january, I have just bee notified today that the case has been 'stayed' for a few weeks to see if the parties can reach settlement / is this normal procedure? Is it a positive sign that the bank hasnt just gone for the jugular? regards cbr

hi i also have protection / gap insurance included on a car i bought in 2006 from bmw financial services it was £600 from JCT600, andffd is included on my invoice. I didnt ask for this as I am selfe employed anyway and never take any insurances out for this type of thing. I am sending BMW a letter today to ask for it to be refunded. cbr

hi does anyone have any thoughts on my last post? cbr

I have just received copy paperwork for the solicitor who gave the 'advice' - it shows the company paid for his services. It also states on the meeting when the guarantee was signed, that the solicitor was meeting 'md name' not mine, although i ma referred in the notes he has made. Also any documents the soilicitor sent to the company or MD is titled 'RE Lease of (company name office premises address)'???? None of the documents are titled 'personal guarantee' or 'guarantee for overdraft' etc etc whicj I find a bit strange? Should I have notes made out to me personally rather than the MD?

what makes you say this? do you think there may be a course of action against this solicitor?

hi thanks, i have had no contact with the solicitor who conducted the signing since then. the solicitor who said i have maybe a 10 or 20% chance is the solicitor i have been discussing my defence with and is local to me & nothing to do with the original situation. he was the solicitor who said it would be worth asking the 'guarantee' solicitor to send me a copy of my files to do with the signing of this, and as such, so far, the practice cannot find my file, only the files of the company and the MD.

i was asked in writing to nominate a solicitor - but i was told who to nominate by the md - he arranged for the solicitor to visit the company and either he or the company paid for it, the advice from the solicitor was very brief and, as i realise now, very poor - at the time i assumed it must be, of course been the way its usually done.

the guarantee was for an overdrafy facility for the company i was employed by - it was signed because of the promise I was made by the MD - a directorship & shareholding (the shareholding nevr happened) - at the time I signed i was and employee only with no shares. I told the bank manager that i wouldnt sign anything that would put the family home at risk - he replied saying 'inreality that doesnt happen'. There is notthing in the guarantee that gives a date which it will cease. I didnt think the guarantee had ceased , when i left the company because of the issues above the MD & the company accountants told me that the guarantee would be paid off as a private investor was joining and wanted that clearing before he injected any monies into the company. I rang the bank after I had left too, and they told me there was a note on the systsem that the company would be paying it off as they went. Obviously none of this was done, and so I have been left to face this being called in now.

thank you palomino, I do have a copy of the original guarantee, i do have a few tiny 'grey areas' i am looking to point out in my defence. The guarante is not related in any way to my current business. I will try and post a copy up of the claim (when i've worked out how to do it). Regarding independent legal advice, i have always maintained that the solicitor who was acting for the company I was employed by at the time of signing, didnt spend any time with me explaining any parts of the guarantee, just basically showed me where to sign. I have asked for a copy of my file from the solicitors, they are telling me they cannot find a file relating to me personally, only one for the company and one for the MD. Do you think this helps? Even though i did sign to say i received independent legal advice, I had no idea what that meant to me up until now!

thanks monty I've not been in this position before, so i'm trying to glean any info i can from people that maybe have some experience of dealing with these issues. On a figure such as the one the bank are claiming from me - 50k, do you think they would settle for monthly payments? Surely they would want a massive amount per month? How are these monthly payments usually negotiated?

The bank havent indicated anything as yet, obviously it has to go to court and then we'll see - I'm just going off what my solicitor told me. I really dont like the thought of BR, I have my own business now and I think that it could cause issues with that. I suppose really i'm not sure how the bank are going to play it - how would the judge look on the bank if they maybe turned down what i think would be a substantial offer (for me anyway) of 10k?

no it hasnt got to any stage like that yet, i've simply received the court claim, but no mention of any assetts etc has been discussed yet - i actually have very few assetts, my car is on hp & in negative equity, i have a bank loan with about 4 k outstanding too.

so do you think the bank would look more favourably at settling the debt some other way? do you think the bankruptcy option by them looks unattractive?

hi, no it wasnt signed over, it was bought completely in her name only, deeds in her name only too. I have heard about 'beneficial interest' so not ssure if that will come into it. The guarantee was a purely personal guarantee, no security on property etc given.

I live in a property with my partner and 2 children - the property is in her name only, since it was bought 3 years ago, the property has around 40k equity as we speak but the way prices are dropping who knows where it will end up? hope this helps a bit as i'm desperate for advice.

Hi all I am anout to defend a court claim from a bank regarding a personal guarantee I made some years ago. I have been to see a solicitor who rates my chances of success at around 10-20%. He said the bank may force me to go bankrupt as the claim is for 50k and i could only pay a fifth of that as a lump sum or a small monthly amount of around £100. What do you all think is the usual course of action in cases like this if i lost? I am having sleepless nights at the moment as I just dont know what to expect next.

thanks does anyone have any info on what checks a bank should make when asking for guarantees from an employee of a company - should they check to see if they have a shareholding and or directorship, whom should these checks be made with?

thanks everyone, on the face of it, the bank has a guarantee signed by me, but obviously I think there are a few 'tiny' grey areas. How diligent should the bank have been in confirming with ME that I wasnt a director or shareholder at the time of signing? They must have requested some info from the MD as a couple of weeks before the signing he sent them a letter stating I had 40%!! I only found this out a couple of weeks ago when the banks solicitors sent me a copy - I have never had shares and this is confirmed by all documents registered with companies house. The banks solicitors also claimed I was a director at the time of signing, however, it was a couple of months after the signing that the MD finally gave me the form to complete, so it was impossible for them to have had any factual proof at that time. I feel as though the bank should have confirmed my status with ME rather than relying on info that quite frankly could have said anything. what do you think?

how likely is it that the banks bankrupt people rather than accepting settlements? Is it straightforward for them to get a charge on my 'beneficial interest' in the family home? I am trying to see a worst case scenario here, at the moment I feel as though i'm sinking fast

I didnt get anything, apart from what now seems to be a huge debt!

hi, thanks for the quick responses. the additional sums are interest & costs so far. I have copies of the signed guarantee from the banks solicitors - I have been to see a solicitor, he feels I have maybe a 10-20% chance of defending the claim. He said that whilst 'unusual' for an employe to commit to guaranteeing his employers overdraft - it can happen. I had advice given to me by a solicitor appointed & paid for by the MD of the company, it was all over rather quickly, with the added pressure to me of the MD sitting in on the signing with me. I was taken advantage of but dont really know what to expect next? I havent been in this position before & am extremely worried by it all.

hi I have received a claim from a bank, I joined a company in 2004, with the promise of directorship & shares from the MD - to cut a long story short I signed a personal guarantee (whilst still an employee & no shareholding) for the bank to give the company an overdraft of 40k. I left eventually as I didnt get what i was promised, the bank have now issued a claim against me for over 50k. Should i offer a full and final settlement - I have around 10k that I could give them but that all i can muster. I live with my partner & children, she owns the house - mortgage & deeds arein her name only. There is around 30k equity in the house. I now have my own business but dont take a huge wage from it. How reasonable do you think the offer would be? What are the chances of the bank bankrupting me? I have 28 days to file a defence. thanks cbr